Fig Lemon Marzipan Bundt Cake: A Special Occasion
A beautifully textured cake for a special occasion. Flavoured with figs and lemon including a slug of limoncello, the cake includes a ball of marzipan in each slice and is topped with a drizzle of sharp lemon icing. I give you my fig lemon marzipan bundt cake.
It’s very hard to believe and somewhat difficult to come to terms with, but my mother turned eighty a few days ago. Where have the years gone? To celebrate, we went out for lunch with a few friends and I made this fig lemon marzipan bundt cake.
Birthday Wishes
We lunched at Duchy Nursery which is an excellent venue with a roaring fire in the winter and good views of the Fowey valley and Restormel Castle. It also does very good food.
The staff kindly took my cake so my mother didn’t see it. They lit the candles and brought it out on a cake stand just as we finished our meal. We all sang Happy Birthday only to find the whole restaurant joining in and clapping afterwards.
I’m not sure if my mother was more pleased or embarrassed, but she was smiling broadly, especially when some of the diners came up to wish her many happy returns.
Fig Lemon Marzipan Bundt Cake
My mother is a big fan of both figs and marzipan, so I thought I’d make this fig lemon marzipan bundt cake. Bundt cakes always look stylish and go to prove the old saying that less is more. It’s mostly a case of loading the cake batter into a mould and then turning it out.
The one I make cuts into 16 pieces, so with eleven of us there on the day, my mother had five slices’ worth of cake to take home – perfect!
As it was a cake for a rather special occasion, I soaked the figs in limoncello and placed balls of marzipan in a circular pattern right in the middle of the cake. I iced it with a sharp lemon icing and dusted it fairly liberally with various shades of edible gold glitter.
I always feel a little uneasy until I’ve tried my bakes, but luckily this one was a triumph and was eaten with gusto by all. It had good body and texture without being overly sweet and it tasted delicious.
Twelfth Night
With Twelfth Night fast approaching, I can highly recommend this fig lemon marzipan bundt cake. It may not be traditional, but it does contain marzipan and has the winter flavours of fig, lemon and almonds.
It’s also one of those light fruit cakes that you can make instead of a traditional Christmas cake.
Other Recipes For Twelfth Night Cakes You Might Like
- King cake (vegan) via Tin and Thyme
- Twelfth cake via Regula Ysewijn
- Lemon marzipan cakes via Tin and Thyme
- Twelfth Night & Epiphany Mincemeat Soda Bread via Lavender and Lovage
- Stollen cakes via Tin and Thyme
Keep in Touch
Thanks for visiting Tin and Thyme. If you make this fig lemon marzipan bundt cake, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below. And do please rate the recipe. Have you any top tips? Do share photos on social media too and use the hashtag #tinandthyme, so I can spot them.
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If you’d like more festive recipes, take a look at my vegetarian and vegan Christmas recipes post. There’s over 70 of them to choose from. My Vegetarian Christmas board on Pinterest is also well worth a look. All delicious and nutritious, of course.
Choclette x
If you like this fig lemon marzipan bundt cake, why not pin it for later?
Fig Lemon Marzipan Bundt Cake – The Recipe
Fig Lemon Marzipan Bundt Cake
Ingredients
- 250 g dried figs chopped
- 5 tbsp limoncello
- 225 g unsalted butter softened
- 225 g dark muscovado sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 125 g wholemeal spelt flour
- 125 g plain flour (all purpose flour)
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
- 80 g ground almonds (freshly ground is best for flavour and texture)
- 1 lemon
- 100 g marzipan
- 50 g icing sugar
- edible gold glitter (optional)
Instructions
- Soak the figs in the limoncello for a minimum of 1 hour – overnight would be ideal.250 g dried figs, 5 tbsp limoncello
- Cream the butter and sugar until light in colour and fluffy in texture.225 g unsalted butter, 225 g dark muscovado sugar
- Grate in the lemon zest and cream a bit more.1 lemon
- Beat in the eggs, one by one, adding a little flour if the mixture looks like splitting.4 large eggs
- Stir in the flour, baking powder, bicarb and ground almonds.125 g wholemeal spelt flour, 125 g plain flour (all purpose flour), 2 tsp baking powder, ¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda), 80 g ground almonds
- Squeeze in the juice from half of the lemon together with the figs and any liquid. Stir until just combined
- Spoon half of the mixture into the base of the bundt mould.
- Roll the marzipan into 16 balls and place around the cake so that each slice will contain one when cut.100 g marzipan
- Spoon the rest of the mixture over the top and smooth out.
- Bake in the middle of the oven at 180℃ (160℃ fan, 350℉, Gas 4) for about 50 minutes or until an inserted skewer comes out more or less clean.
- Leave to cool in the mould for about 20 minutes, then turn out onto a serving plate and leave to cool completely.
- Mix the icing sugar with just enough lemon juice to create a drizzling consistency.50 g icing sugar
- Drizzle it over the cake.
- Dust with the glitter if using.edible gold glitter
Notes
Nutrition Estimate
Linkies
I’m sending my fig lemon marzipan bundt cake to Ness at JibberJapperUK for Love Cake. The theme this month is nuts about cake and this one has plenty of freshly ground almonds plus the marzipan.
I love anything with figs! What a simple stunning bundt cake!
Thank you Rebecca, it was delicious and enjoyed by all 🙂
Lovely lovely flavours Choclette and perfectly fitting for such a milestone birthday. Congratulations to your mum! x
Thanks Kate. She had a lovely day and everyone enjoyed the cake 🙂
Those flavours sound amazing together 😀 Looks so delicious and I love the cute sprinkles and glitter 🙂 Hope your mum enjoyed her special day x
Thanks Nadia. You’ve got to have a bit of glitter for a special birthday I reckon 🙂 She really enjoyed her day, thank you.
This sounds like a fantastic cake to see in any birthday with. Happy Birthday to your Mum!
Thanks Sus, my mum had a lovely day and the cake was a great success.
This sounds such a wonderful cake. I love Limoncello too, many happy Italian memories of that. A very happy birthday to your mum!
Thanks Ceri. It was totally scrumptious and appreciated by all, including my mum – luckily!
Hhappy birthday to your mum! What a gorgeous looking cake to celebrate such a special occasion.
Thanks Jemma. She enjoyed her day and the cake 🙂
What a gorgeous cake, the attention to detail with those cute little stars as well. This sounds like such lovely flavours.
Thanks Angela. Decorating cakes is not really my thing, but I was quite pleased with this one – stars and glitter help 😉
Oh my goodness what a great cake, limoncello and marzipan – yes please. A big Happy Birthday to your Mum, 80 isn’t old now, my MIL is 92!
It was scrumptious Janice. Yes, I know 80 isn’t old at all these days, which is just as well as my mother would seriously object to being called old 😉
What a beautiful cake to celebrate a special occasion! I love lemons and figs so I bet this tasted lovely.
Thanks Heidi, it was a great combination and went down very well with everyone.
What a wonderfully glittery cake for a special occasion! Many happy returns to your mum and I think the flavours of your cake sound delicious!
Thanks Lucy. My mother is very partial to figs, lemons, almonds and marzipan, so it was a bit of a triumph.
How lovely for your mum. I know what you mean about serving cakes before you try them. I am always very nervous about it. No idea why because any homemade cake is better than a bought one.
This is very true. Commercial cakes usually taste of sugar and not much else I find. I guess we cooks are just overly critical of our own creations, always thinking they could be better.
What a lovely cake for a special birthday. I love anything with marzipan in and I don’t think figs are used enough in cakes. A great cakey start to the New Year.
Thanks Ness. I’ve made quite a few cakes with figs, but you’re right, it’s fairly unusual.
Happy belated Birthday to your mom, Choclette. The cake looks lovely and perfect for the celebration!
Thank you Angie. My mum had a great day and enjoyed the cake too – phew!
Happy birthday to your mum! Sounds like a special cake for her. I like how you use the stars for decoration – I have lots left from christmas and wondering what to do with them – need to take a leaf out of your book.
Thanks Johanna. You’ve lots of stars left over from Christmas? I think stars are my favourite decoration.
What a lovely cake, and congratulations to your mother ! I still have about 9 months to think about what I am going to make for my mother’s 80th birthday end of September ….. Nothing with figs I’m afraid (figseeds and false teeth often do not work well together, lol); probably some Dutch traditional.
Thank you. Eighty isn’t really much of an age these days, though I don’t envy your mother not having her own teeth. Nine months in the planning should make for a super splendid cake 😉